Sienna and the Shell by Scarlett, age 7

Once upon a time there lived a girl called Sienna. She had hazel brown hair and eyes as light as the blue sky. She wore a pale pink shirt that she wore back to front and dark blue trousers that always fell down. She wore a watch with flowers on it which sparkled in the sun.

One day, she decided to fly on holiday to the seaside. The water smelt salty. The rocks were as bumpy as snake’s skin. The seaweed was as green as grass. The sand sounded crunchy when she walked on it and was as yellow as daffodils.

When she was strolling along the beach she saw a shell. Sienna said, “That’s a strange looking shell.” It was bright and colourful and circle-shaped. It smelt like fresh sea water. She picked up the shell. She put the shell to her ear and tried to listen to the waves of the sea. She waited and waited and still waited.

Then she heard a beautiful voice calling, “Help! Help!”

It was a mermaid. The mermaid was trapped in the shell.

“Get me out!” she called.

“My name is Sienna,” said Sienna.

The mermaid could not believe her ears. She told Sienna how she got trapped in the shell. “A grumpy king that lives on the end of the beach in a spooky castle trapped me in here. I am lonely and there is not much room in this shell. The only way to get me free is to get the key from the grumpy king,” said the mermaid.

So that night Sienna crept quietly into the castle that was on the end of the beach. She left the shell on the soft sand but nobody could see it because it was hidden away in some rocks.

Sienna crept in the chimney. The chimney was all dirty and smelly. She saw the king. He had a long beard that reached the floor. The king had a gold crown that sparkles in the sun.

The king said, “What are you doing here?”

“I am just going to get the key from you.”

“NEVER!” said the king. “Tell me a joke to make me laugh.”

“OK,” said Sienna. Sienna told the king a joke but it did not make him laugh.

“I’m hungry,” said the king.

Then Sienna said, “I could make you dinner.”

She made... ice cream, jelly, biscuits, roast dinner, salad, bear, soup and juice. Sienna was worried about the mermaid. The king enjoyed his dinner and ate slowly. The king fell asleep. Sienna took the key from the king. She found a riddle. It said: THIS KEY OPENS A TREASURE CHEST.

The treasure chest was under the dirty mattress of the king’s bed. Inside the treasure chest was a magic pearl which felt smooth. She needed to take it back to the shell so she could free the mermaid.

She ran back to the beach and put the pearl in the shell and it got the mermaid free. The mermaid had blond hair and blue eyes and pink skin.

“At last I am free,” said the mermaid excitedly.

She swam back home into the deep dark ocean and Sienna went back to her cosy home.